Scouts

On Monday morning they had shooting with both .22 and .303s on a twenty-five yard range. .22s were shot first with a rest then .303s with a rest and earplugs. Everybody shot .22s but several people did not want to shoot .303s. On Monday afternoon they were taken down to Cambridge baths for swimming. All the cadets passed the R.A.F. swimming proficiency exam. After that one or two people stayed in Cambridge while the others went back to camp.

Tuesday was the last day and practical trade training was held. Each cadet had a choice of either fire, aircraft servicing, meteorologl, air traffic control, Radio servicing, police or catering. Fire seemed to be the most popular. Practical trade training went on all day.

On the Wednesday there was a barrack inspection and a meeting of all the cadets at camp where it was announced that syndicates G and H had done best in all the activities at camp as points were taken for all the activities and they beat the syndicates from the other schools. There was no drill at this camp apart from marching to and from the airmen's mess. There were several nights when cadets could go into Cambridge in civilian dress, and in the evenings on the camp cadets could wear civilian clothing watch television and play snooker or visit the Acorn Club, which was a club run by the N.A.A.F.I. on the camp next to the airmen's mess. M. B. Pinder

SCOUT GROUP

P. J. Doyle and R. I. Moss successfully completed their training for the Queen's Scout badge this term and we congratulate them an achieving this very high standard. Both have continued to give active help to the Group and we very much appreciate what Doyle has done and what Moss continues to do. The Group is still experimenting with new ideas in preparation for the autumn. We are hoping to develop a number of activities which will provide continuous training through the Group. One idea is to start a canoeing section which will provide elementary training in the Scout Troop, leading on to more advanced work in the Venture Scout Troop, incorporating canoeing in future expeditions. There is no doubt that in future Scout training is going to be very much more expensive and we shall be evermore dependent on the efforts of our members through, for instance, the Bob-a-Job Scheme, if we are to live up to the new image of Scouting.

THE WORKING PARTY

This section of the Group will unfortunately not have a very long existence. It was formed at the beginning of the Christmas term, to enable those members of the Troop who would not be still at school when the new image is introduced to take an active interest in the Group. The specified object of the party was to "overhaul" the property of the Group, and this began with the painting of the interior of the scout hut.

P. R. S. Fairclough was elected to represent the party on the executive committee, and was elected chairman of that committee. Unfortunately he left after one term and R. I. Moss replaced him in both positions.

Having made an excellent job of painting the scout but walls varying shades of blue, and repairing the many broken light fittings in the previous 24

term, the party commenced the second task of the year with much enthusiasm. After the inevitable preliminary meetings of discussions, the task was subdivided into five phases, each of which could be completed at one meeting. The task was to tidy up the compound which had been so professionally fenced by last year's Rovers. Unfortunately the elements created difficulties and one or two phases had to be postponed, but by the time of the trial exams the task had been successfully completed. The party would like to thank the G.S.L. who would invariably break with tradition and light huge fires of pianos and whalers with the Times and matches!

Everyone should be congratulated for their never ceasing enthusiasm with the task in hand and their great patience with the puns, which seem to be almost a tradition in the Group now. It is hoped that the loft can be refurnished next term—a task that will do justice to the abilities of the party.

Finally it is with much regret that we must say au revoir to three of our members P. J. Doyle, W. D. Fleming and the double barrel M. A. Summers-Smith. We wish them success in the future and thanking them for their assistance hope that they can take something of the Scout way of life with them.

R.I.M.

VENTURE SCOUT TROOP

Despite its shortness and the disruptive element of the Trial Exams., the Easter Term was a fairly successful one as the troop settled down in the new routine under an elected executive committee. We continued with the St. John Ambulance course and to finish the series of lectures on First Aid, Dr. Scott gave two highly entertaining talks to a combined meeting of the Scouts and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award 'Scheme Group. There were three evening exercises this term, two in the country, depending on map and compass work (one was organised by two non-committee members, Summers and Cantrell) and another exercise on the Ings in the form of a complicated game of hide and seek. Several meetings were taken up with the checking of equipment in the Scout Loft in preparation for the first Easter Expedition for two years, which took place in the Lake District. W.R.C.

VENTURE SCOUT EXPEDITION EASTER HOLIDAYS, 1967

This took the form of hiking, followed by sleeping at night under canvas at different sites. There were thirteen Scouts taking part under the supervision of Mr. Coulthard and Mr. Duncan. These were divided into groups as follows: (i) P. R. H. Macartney (leader), P. Scaife, A. G. Scott and D. R. Winterbottom. (ii) M. A. Cantrell (leader), D. A. Grainger, J. R. Lund, R. S. C. Mcllroy, J. E. Staines and I. D. C. Summers. (iii) A. L. Jervis (leader), G. W. A. Plews and R. M. Yule.

We started in the school buses on the morning of the 12th April. The old school bus had just been serviced but the brakes seized up and the speed was much reduced and stops had to be made to let them cool down. However, we succeeded in reaching our camping site after stopping in Keswick to bup a stock of Kendal Mint Cake. The site, one that has been 25

used before, was sheltered by trees down by Newlands Beck on Birkrigg Farm.

When camp had been set up the more adventurous ascended Causey Pike (2,000 feet above sea level) while others only managed Rowling End (1,422 feet). After we had had supper Macartney made a fire and succeeded in warming us up while we were given last minute instructions. We set ourselves 7.30 a.m. as a time for waking.

The first group were very tired when they reached Wast Water where they met Mr. Coulthard who had driven fifty miles to give them their supplies for the next day. We, the second group, made our way in the same direction never actually reaching Robinson as planned but walking what seemed an endless ridge and coming down from the mist to have lunch in Little Dale. After lunch we met a hiker who was very helpful in directing us in the mist. In this way we succeeded to top Dale Head and so down to the Youth Hostel at the summit of Honister Pass. Having fed three sheep with stale bread, we proceeded down the pass and when we reached the bottom of the pass we refreshed ourselves at Seatoller and proceeded to a reasonably good camp site at Seathwaite. Tired out we set up camp and cooked the evening meal. A meteor was seen by a few on this night.

In the morning there was a mist in the valley, but this had lifted by the time we had set off giving a very hot day. We made good progress after leaving camp until we reached Stockley Bridge. After this our speed could not have been very fast as we had several rests in the heat, perhaps only 1 m.p.h. When we reached the top of the valley we had a good view of the surrounding countryside whilst nibbling some K.M.C. When we had had a long lunch below Allen Crags we made our way to Angle Tarn and so by Rossett Pike to Langdales. This started off as a very steep path but became less acute as we ambled to a public camp site at Wall End. The third group were also staying the night there and they arrived a little later.

The next morning we set off on the last leg of our journey •to Grasmere. We took a very steep track up to Stickle Tarn from where we went by way of Blea Crag down to Easedale Tarn where we met the familiar geography lesson conducted by an energetic schoolmistress. From here we went at a fair pace and arrived at the camp site in the grounds of Bridge End House by 3.30 p.m. The other groups soon turned up as well as Mr. and Mrs. Duncan.

On Sunday the majority went to church at St. Oswalds. The rest of the day was spent restfully, either boating on the lake, looking round the shops or taking refreshments at the cafe by the river. •For lunch we made a change from K.M.C. etc. and had lamb chops.

We were now given two days in which to return to Newlands. Our group took a very picturesque route over Helm Crag and the following ridge and crossed the country boundary into Cumberland. The mist was upon us as we changed our bearing over Greenup edge but it cleared as we scrambled down Lining Crag. We then followed Greenup Gill to the camp site stopping for lunch on the way. We arrived there very early as Mr. Duncan had taken our packs for us. Here we met the first group.

The next day we again left our •packs with the support bus and set off to complete the last short walk to Newlands. We went mainly by road wishing to take it easy. On the way we stopped at the Bowder Stone and at Grange for refreshments. When we reached Manesty we decided to cut across the ridge and we had lunch on the top of it overlooking Derwent Water. It 26